


histoy rhyming in perfect signature (drabble)

by Julziebee



Category: Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Anyways, Canon Compliant, Explosions, fundy is only mentioned and tubbo is there for like. the last couple words, if you will, minor acts of terrorism, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-15 16:40:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28567089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Julziebee/pseuds/Julziebee
Summary: He trudges through the water and discovers with fatal fear that the walls are lined with explosives. He wades through the water for nearly five minutes and doesn’t go one without seeing red. His anxiety bites at the back of his neck as he continues.--hello the festival is tomorrow and i pictured this brilliant scene in my head that i won't explain further but i just wanted to get this out before canon caught up. is it going to happen? no. am i going to enjoy this? oh hell yes.
Relationships: n/a
Comments: 4
Kudos: 27





	histoy rhyming in perfect signature (drabble)

The first thing Ranboo notices is that he can’t feel his arms.

This is not a normal occurrence by any means. Yes, your arms lose circulation while you sleep, and then are dead when you wake up. But it’s never paralyzing for this long. 

His head hurts, too. A more common thing. This type of headache, though, is different: he can feel it behind his eyes, his ears, at the base of his head, in his temples, and in his neck. It’s getting to the point where he can feel it in his back, and in his shoulders. He doesn’t normally have headaches that take over his body. That is a new addition. 

His legs are wet too, and he can’t see. His mouth is dry, and for a second, he panics.

_I am soaked to the bone,_ he thinks. He wiggles his hips around, and kicks out a leg, trying to get his bearings. This ends in him falling backward through a hole just big enough to get at his hips. 

He hits his head on the stone ( _it’s stone, okay, got it_ ) behind him, which hurts, but a handkerchief falls from his eyes and drops down around his neck like a necklace. He’s in some sort of cave, is what his brain registers first. It’s an incredibly small cave, but he is also an incredibly tall person, so it may just be that factor altering his sense of what the hell is going on. He also notices that he can’t see his hands, and then realizes that they are bound behind him.

Once his eyes adjust to the darkness, he see’s his sitting in a pool of water. He shuffles out of the hole he fell into and groans when he lands directly on his elbow. 

_Am I hurt? Where am I, actually? How did I get here?_

He doesn’t know where he is, and he doesn’t know how he got there. He’s fairly sure he’s hurt though, even if it’s just his elbow. 

_Water, there’s water_. His left brain says. There could be water in any of the caves.

He sticks his foot out farther, and slumps further down the stone walls. Pushing and pushing, he finds water; a steady stream that’s fairly deep. He pushes his leg done further and winces because the sharp angles of the stone beneath him dig into his calf. It’s so sharp that he can hardly believe it’s natural.

_It might not be_. His brain supplies. Then, once again, _how did I get here_. 

He tries to stand up, but doesn’t get very far because the ceilings are short. He huffs in frustration. _Small_. 

He looks to his right, but it’s too dark for him to see anything other than where the ceiling meets the walls, and then eventually nothing at all. He looks to his left and finds the same.

_Where am I?_ He asks himself again. The last thing he remembers is decorating, and he was really minding his own business. He remembers feeling a little rushed cause of the deadline, but how long ago was that now? 

_Don’t panic,_ he thinks. _Don’t panic; they wouldn’t start without you_. The thoughts have the exact opposite effect on his nervous system, and instead begin to send him into a place he would really rather not go right now. Anxiety attacks were bad at the best of times. 

He feels the cold stone beneath his palms and latches onto that. He rolls a pebble between his pointer and thumb, and then decides that the material around his wrists must be rope because of how much it burns.

After he can breathe again, Ranboo balls his hands into fists and pulls as tightly as he can, in a quick, sudden motion. The ropes don’t budge.

_Pebble?_ His brain supplies. He leans back slightly and tries to find the edge of the hole, but is starting to lose control of his hands again. 

_Pebble. Pebble, pebble pebble pebble pebble pebble pebble_ \-- Stone. 

Ranboo audibly gasps and sits up. He knocks his head on the ceilings and winces again, but flips his legs around he’s presumably facing the wall. 

“Please, don’t be wet,” He prays as he carefully moves his legs out from underneath himself. He ends up with his back on the floor, knees up, feet touching the wall, and head dangling over the edge of the stream. He lets out a deep sigh as he pushes off the wall, sending his body gliding over the stream. He ends up with his head on the other side, back over the water, and legs fully extended against the wall. _Perfect_.

He flips so he’s on his side and lines the middle of the rope-bind up with the jutting edge of the (it _must_ be) cut stone. He begins to saw his arms back and forth until finally, the line snaps, and his hands are free again. He rests for a second, and lets his hands fall into the water. It’s cool, and a good thing to focus on. He makes a mental note for himself that the water is flowing left. He closes his eyes and huffs again, mentally and physically drained. 

His elbow is for sure broken, and his wrists feel absurdly abused, bruised and sprained. He can move all of his fingers, which he considers lucky, but his back hurts like hell from being down in this cavern for who knows how long. He figures it can’t be that long, because he isn’t very hungry. Water would be nice, though. 

He splashes it a little, and chuckles to himself. He has water. And he’s already manuvered to get himself free, and he’s in a cave, he knows that. All in all, that’s two for two, he could totally bend and get a drink, especially now that he’s got hands. And the water’s really cold, but what’s in it? He can’t be too far from home. It should be okay. It probably should be okay. 

He starts to sit up when he hears a shout. It isn’t a cry of pain, more of an exclamation. It’s also definitely not from inside the cavern, but it’s close enough that he can hear it. That means he can’t be too far from above ground. 

_I have nothing in my inventory_. ...That’s what hands are for! 

He stands up as much as he can and begins to start clawing away at the ceiling, which is thankfully dirt. It’s getting in his fingernails, which is gross and annoying, but he’s getting out. He focuses so intently on the dirt ceiling that he almost misses the bit of light coming out of the corner of his eye.

_Is that the person who yelled?_

“Hey,” Ranboo tries. The light doesn’t move. His legs make the executive decision to begin walking towards it. As he gets closer, he can see that it’s a torch mounted on the wall. Either he’s in a well-er known place, or someone had pity on him. He’s equally hoping for both options to be true. 

He picks up the torch and nearly yells himself when the light reveals a block of dynamite sitting snuggly next to him. He holds the fire a little closer. 

He once again tests the depth of the water, and decides to walk in it just for extra precaution. He hears another shout, but it too doesn’t sound painful. Good news. 

He trudges through the water and discovers with fatal fear that the walls are lined with explosives. He wades through the water for nearly five minutes and doesn’t go one without seeing red. His anxiety bites at the back of his neck as he continues. 

He sees another light up ahead, brighter. He squints. What-- _where is he?_

“Ranboo,” A voice booms from above him. He screams and drops the torch in the water, effectively throwing him into darkness again. The voice above him sighs, wary. “I hoped you would stay asleep.”

“Wh-what does-how-” He shrieks again when a hand touches his shoulder. 

“Ranboo,” The man says again. His brains are scrambled eggs right now, and he’s desperately trying to identify the voice, and the hand, but he can’t. Why can’t he?

“Why can’t--who, do I know…?”

“It’s just me, Techno.” Techno says. It alleviates only some of Ranboo’s fears.

“Okay. Okay, okay. Uhm, so--”

“Hey,” Techno says, and Ranboo immediately stops talking because the tone in Technoblade’s voice is very parental, but still soothing. “You alright, kid?”

“I--yeah.” He decides. Techno sighs again, and pulls out a torch. He sits it down on concrete, and Ranboo sits on the opposite bank.

“Well, I’m going to be honest with you. I’m the one who brought you down here.”

Okay. 

“I’m sorry you were tied up--it was Tommy’s idea. I supposed it couldn’t hurt.”

Okay. But where is Tommy, then?

“Tommy is...angry. I'm letting him cool off before, y’know. Everything.”

What does that mean.

“Everything?” Ranboo asks. Techno nods and takes out his sword. He jabs the point into the floor and begins twirling his sword around. The light from the torch reflects on the metal and Ranboo would make a disco joke if he wasn’t so confused.

“Everything. Well, to you, probably. It isn’t really everything to me. It is to Tommy, though. I’m surprised he agreed.” Ranboo doesn’t remember hearing about Tommy’s everything since the compass, and that was a while back. He thinks, hard, and tries to figure out what Technoblade could possibly be talking about. Granted, the man sometimes talked in myth and poetry and it was hard to keep up. 

“Don’t hurt yourself,” Techno says, and Ranboo feels his face flush with embarrassment. His brain finally kickstarts. _For the love of God, please ask for more information_.

“Okay, so. Okay. Why am I here? What’s-what’s going on?” Techno looks at him for a long moment, and Ranboo has to remind himself that Technoblade isn’t really that much older than he is. 

“I didn’t want you to feel it, Ranboo.” Okay. _What?_

“Feel it? Feel what, what am I supposed to not be feeling?” Ranboo asks, hurriedly, and he can almost feel Techno’s guilt triple. “Like, a wound? Are--I know you have powerful weapons and all, but I can use my words, Techno! I promise, yeah? Okay, cause--”

“I didn’t want you to feel the explosion, Ranboo.” Techno finally says. Ranboo pauses.

“Repeat that, please?”

“I wanted you to lose this life without feeling it. You’re a good kid. I don’t have anything against you. Honestly, I don’t have anything against anyone except the monsters you’ve created. But you don’t really fit under that title, Ranboo. You don’t choose so simply like that.” He reaches out and pats Ranboo’s shoulder. “You can come back with us. I know you don’t want to choose, but I’m offering you a way out.” 

Alrighty, okay. 

“How much TNT do you have?” Ranboo asks. Techno doesn’t respond. “Great.” He slumps forwards and touches the water again. He’ll never understand why he’s the only one that can see past the borders and the buildings and just love people. 

“Power is poision. It makes you paranoid and skittish. It makes you greedy. It makes you weak. My part in this is just to alleviate that threat, and I think you’re realizing that too.” Techno says. 

“W-yes. No. I--Where...where would I go if I went with you?” He asks, meekly.

“Back home, with Tommy. And Phil. We would keep you safe with us.” Techno says simply. It sounds nice, but there is still some leftover guilt.

“But...Tubbo’s my friend. I can’t do this to him; if he finds out I knew what was going to happen and didn’t warn them, then I’d be just as bad.” He reasons. Techno nods. 

“You’re friends with us, too.” Ranboo looks Techno dead in the eye.

“I haven’t lied to you, though.” A deep silence falls over them as Ranboo weighs his options and Technoblade waits patiently.

“Technob-”

“Yeah, no, I get it.” Ranboo briefly remembers his last death, and how he felt every part of it, even if it was a stupid way to die. He thinks he could go through it again if he could just apologize to Tubbo. “Next time I see you, remember we’re on your side, alright? I’m sorry about this. Go all the way to the left, and you’ll get to the community house.” Techno says. He stands up, leaves the torch, and walks away in the other direction. The reality of what’s about to happen slams into Ranboo and he picks up the torch.

_Explode. Die. Power. My part in this_. His breath catches. _Festival_. 

He begins to run as fast as he can to the left, kicking some explosives into the water as he runs by. _Alleviate_. 

He runs and runs, and it’s uncomfortable cause he’s hunched over and the speed took out the flame a couple hundred steps ago, but he doesn’t care. He doesn’t stop running until he sees the lake beneath the community house and dives into it. 

When he resurfaces, he has to cover his eyes because the sun is so bright. Despite it still being cold, the sun decided that he would spare their world for a day and bless them with light and warmth, and Ranboo would have noticed that if he wasn’t trying to evacuate an entire country that would be blowing up very soon. Once he regains his vision, he scrambles up to the deck and runs as fast as he can towards L’manberg. 

The wood beneath his feet creeks in protest as he runs. The sun is almost laughable, the blue cloudless sky is almost a joke. The world smells fresh and clean, and Ranboo focuses on the explosives six feet beneath him. 

Finally, L’manberg comes into view. The balloons in the air give the sky little freckles, and he can see banners hanging off of people’s homes--off of his own home. He now knows where the shouting is coming from; people are playing games and laughing, shouting and generally enjoying themselves. He pauses to look at the scope of it all, how familiar it’s become. He wishes he could take a picture of it before...well. 

He takes two stairs at a time as he climbs. He get’s a weird look from Fundy, who is actively trying to help Karl learn the trident course. He ignores them and continues running.

He’s never felt this much adrenaline. The mere fact that his friend’s lives are completely in his hands is terrifying. He prays that he’s doing the right thing.

The president finally comes into view, sitting on top of a brand new cabinet seat and watching everyone play. He has a wide, relaxed smile on his face. Ranboo’s stomach plummets.

“Tubbo,” He calls. The urgency in his voice startles Tubbo, who whips his head around in about five different directions before he finally spots Ranboo, When he does, he lights up.

“Ranboo!” He calls. Ranboo pauses again, to catch his breath and to get a good look at his friend. “I was wondering when you wou-”

“Run,” Ranboo says. Tubbo cocks his head to the side.

“What was that?” He hops off of his seat and begins to walk towards Ranboo, who is cradling his elbow and looking around for an escape, but he can only see magenta and lime and orange, he can only hear laughter and banter, he can only feel the sun on his back and the weight on his shoulders.

_Oh, god_.

“Run.” He says again, more dire. Tubbo picks up his pace, but Ranboo knows it won’t matter.

“ _Run!_ ” He shouts. Tubbo gives him another worried look, but it only lasts half a second as the buildings directly behind Tubbo explode. 

A burst of white illuminates his friend from the back, and the two hold direct eye contact and Tubbo is flung into the air, seemingly not understanding what was happening. That’s what he looked like, at least, but Ranboo could just be being optimistic. 

Almost like a movie, he sees flowers fly out of their pots, windows break and shatter in slow motion. He sees wood splinter and shoot out under the pressure. He sees the white light turn to raging, orange fire, and sees Tubbo land a few feet in front of him. 

_Say sorry_ , his brain says. Ranboo scrambles forward on his hands and knees and is pushed back by another explosion.

He feels the fire lick up his arms, and he shouts, because it’s just too much, because now the ground under him is giving away and now he’s in the air himself and he can’t process what’s happening. He can’t even see the ground as he desperately reaches for something solid to support him and tell him that it’s okay, but the solid things turns out to be a crater in the ground. The solid thing connects with the back of his head, and the solid thing bleeds him. It all hurts more this time, he thinks.

**Author's Note:**

> ANYWAYS ANYWAYS HAHA
> 
> this literally...i think i wrote this in an hour or two so please be kind haha it's 2:30 and school starts today technically. that's besides the point i hope you guys liked it!! it's been very cool to do more plot-driven fics recently :DD
> 
> kudos and comments are always appreciated <3


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